Healthy Grocery Shopping on a Budget

At long last I’m finally creating a post about grocery shopping for healthy food on a budget! Woohoo!

This is something Ryan and I do every single week, but I’ve never taken the time to snap pictures, save our receipt and make mental notes about what we do to save money while buying healthy food week after week.

When we arrived home from Sanibel and our fridge was all but empty, I figured this evening was a great time to finally put this post together.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

Coupons

First things first, I am a big fan of coupons. I have no shame handing over a small stack to the cashier upon checkout.

This evening we saved more than $5.00 by utilizing coupons! I clip coupons from local papers and also print great deals off of various coupon websites. For example, through MyBlogSpark, I learned about more than $9 worth of savings available at Publix, my grocery store of choice in the southeast, available on the Great Meals Great Deals site.

Plan Ahead

Ryan and I also try to arrive at the grocery store with a general idea of items we need. I jot down items we run out of through the week and try to have a rough idea about the meals we’ll create through the upcoming week so we can buy the necessary ingredients.

The two of us also try to limit impulse buys and avoid purchasing household essentials like toilet paper and paper towels at the grocery store because they are often overpriced and can be found much cheaper at stores like Big Lots or Target.

Take Advantage of In-Store Deals

While at the grocery store, Ryan and I make sure to take advantage of buy one get one free deals that occur weekly at our local grocery store.

I used to be really funny about freezing bread products, but now I don’t hesitate. We currently have four packages of Alternative Bagels, one back of bagel thins and two packs of sandwich thins in our freezer because we stocked up when the items were buy one get one free. I also came home with eight packs of whole wheat tortillas one time because I knew I’d use them and wanted to take advantage of the amazing savings.

Buy Generic

Ryan and I are definitely not label snobs. We often buy generic products and think they taste just as good! Buying generic can often save you a ton off your final bill.

Saving on Produce

Unfortunately fresh produce can often be quite expensive. Ryan and I try to head into the produce section with an open mind. We don’t walk in saying we need broccoli. We’ll buy it if it’s on sale, but won’t if it’s not.

This evening we purchased cauliflower, celery, broccoli and a red onion because these items were on sale. We didn’t buy kale or asparagus though we initially thought we would because they were not discounted.

When it comes to fresh fruit, bananas are always a good buy! Berries are more of a “special treat” since the price of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries vary so much. Today I purchased a pint of blueberries because they were on sale, but when they’re not marked down, I will opt for frozen fruit instead.

Final Cost

In the end, Ryan and I spent $102.17, or roughly $51 per person, for this week’s groceries.

I pack my breakfast, lunch and snacks daily and typically eat dinner in. This means I typically spend around $7.20 per day on food. Of course we’ll go out to eat on the weekends on occasion (typically no more than once or twice a week), so this is obviously a rough estimate.

Here’s a list of the groceries we purchased this week:

Fruits and Veggies

1 package Eat Smart broccoli florets

2 packages Eat Smart cauliflower florets

1 bunch celery

1 red onion

1 pint blueberries

1 jar Mott’s natural applesauce

1 box Green Giant healthy vision frozen vegetables

2 nectarines

5 apples

1/4 lb. red potatoes

1 large cucumber

6 bananas

Yogurt, Cheese and Dairy

6 strawberry banana Chobani Greek yogurt

3 plain Chobani Greek yogurt

1 large container plain Chobani Greek yogurt

3 large containers Publix blueberry yogurt

3 large containers Publix fat-free cottage cheese

1 package Publix muenster cheese slices

1 package Publix Swiss cheese slices

1 large package Publix mozzarella sting cheese

1 can Carnation evaporated skim milk

1/2 gallon Publix 2 percent milk

1 package Yoplait Delights yogurt (I had a coupon for a free sample)

Meat and Eggs

8 oz. lump crab claw meat

1 lb. pork chops

1 carton Eggland’s Best eggs

1 lb. deli turkey meat

Additional Items

1 package Tam-x-ico’s whole wheat tortillas

1 package Monterey Pasta Company ravioli

1 large jar Skippy Natural peanut butter

1 Reese’s peanut butter big cup

2 Sweet Riot dark chocolate squares

1 can Arizona tea

1 60-piece container Orbit bubblemint gum

1 bag Publix all-purpose flour

1 jar Publix yellow mustard

Coupon savings: $5.78

In-store savings: $13.11

Total savings: $18.89

So there you have it! Our attempt at healthy grocery shopping on a budget in a nutshell.

Off to make dinner. It’s ravioli time!

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About Julie

My name is Julie and I am a full-time blogger, new mama, fitness enthusiast (certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor) and food fanatic (mostly healthy... but also not-so-healthy) living in North Carolina with my husband, dog and baby boy. Thank you for visiting Peanut Butter Fingers! I hope you enjoy little glimpses into my life and have fun trying the sweaty workouts I frequently share and making some of my favorite recipes along the way!

Ugh, grocery shopping is always so expensive! Gluten-free food can be ridiculous. I can’t buy some generic products because they like to sneak that darn gluten in there. I basically know the brands I can have and which ones I can’t.

Plus the stores near me don’t take coupons you’ve printed from the computer (too much fraud) so I can only use the ones that come in the paper and they are usually things like “save 25 cents if you buy three boxes.” Umm..whoo hoo? lol

I’ve always been leery of freezing bread because it’s something my mom never did and I guess I don’t know if there’s a “right way”.
I’ve stopped buying sandwich thins because my husband doesn’t like them and I can’t eat a package before it goes stale.
Is there any trick to freezing bread products? Do you leave them in their original packaging or do you double up with freezer bags? I hate that freezer burn taste, but I’d love to start buying my thins again!

BOGO Bagels are awesome! We usually have some frozen bagels or bread thins as well! I’m so nerdy I have a publix app on my phone so I can check out the ad from anywhere.. Why I need this? I don’t know, but I love it!

I menu plan, and when I’m planning meals I surf the publix ads to see what I can make that will have on sale ingredients. Publix produce is insanely expensive. Thankfully in our area we have a produce market and I buy most of my fruits/veggies & meat from there. They have been a real $$ saver for me! Their ground beef is almost 1$ cheaper/lb, and their chicken is a few dollars cheaper per lb. We also have a lot of roadside produce so that is also very helpful1

Just read this awesome post on budget-friendly grocery shopping! Thanks!

An interesting note on “store-brand” items. They are actually usually identical to “brand-name” items, because the grocery store purchases the overstock items from the brand-name company. It’s literally the same butter, milk, etc., from the same farm/cow/etc., but without a marketing mark-up.

So obviously I’m a little late in finding this post and commenting, but I just discovered your blog earlier this week! I am already a huge fan and look forward to reading all your new posts. I have to say that your blog has actually provided me with the motivation I needed to get off my butt and finally rejoin the gym! So, thanks!

I moved to Florida from the northeast about eight months ago. I love shopping at Publix and am a big fan of their BOGO deals! Although I never used to put a lot of thought in to saving money at the grocery store, ever since I moved to Florida saving money has been a much higher priority. I’ve learned a lot about saving money at the grocery store, while still buying healthy items for my boyfriend and I to eat (including a lot of fresh produce)! In fact, that was the inspiration for my blog. I love this post, and I think it is important for people to realize that you can definitely eat healthy on a budget! Anyways, sorry for the very long winded comment (no matter how hard I try to keep things short I never seem to be good at that!)

Great post, I love saving money at the grocery store! I know this is an old post but I am just now reading it 🙂 I have another tip that I have discovered and would like to share. I buy a lot of generic or get what brand is on sale, but there are a few things that my husband and I just like a certain brand of. I have found that if you go to the products website they will frequently have printable coupons. I do this with new products I see and would like to try out too.

This comment is a couple years late but…I’m happy to see that you and Ryan spend about the same as me and my husband on groceries per week. I was always wondering if what I spend is too much, but now I see it’s comparable. Thanks!

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Hi! I’m Julie and I am a new mom, personal trainer and blogger living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome to my blog! Peanut Butter Fingers follows my life and my interests in food, fitness, family, travel and (mostly) healthy living.

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I am not a registered dietitian. My blog is simply a documentation of my life. The views I express are mine alone, based on my own experiences, and should not be taken as medical advice. I DO NOT post everything I eat. Though I am a certified personal trainer, the workouts I post may not be right for you. Please speak with a medical professional before making any changes to your current routine.

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